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Northeastern Pennsylvania Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pocono area
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View Poll Results: How Do You Pronounce The Name of the Diamond City?
Wilkes-Berry 50 58.82%
Wilkes-Bear 27 31.76%
Wilkes-Bear-Uh 8 9.41%
Voters: 85. You may not vote on this poll

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Old 11-27-2007, 05:53 PM
 
98 posts, read 378,367 times
Reputation: 51

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Quote:
Originally Posted by mm_mary73 View Post
All I know is whenever I say "Wilkes Barre" my neighbors think I mean "WilkesBORO - Birthplace of NASCAR"

After 25 years of dealing with the question of where is Edwardsville or where in PA, I usually say near the Poconos (or Scranton now that the Office is popular).

and its Wilkes-Barry as the name is pronounced. Not one of the options.
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Old 11-27-2007, 05:56 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tsedeski View Post
After 25 years of dealing with the question of where is Edwardsville or where in PA, I usually say near the Poconos (or Scranton now that the Office is popular).

and its Wilkes-Barry as the name is pronounced. Not one of the options.
Barry and Berry sound exactly alike.
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Old 11-27-2007, 06:39 PM
 
414 posts, read 1,779,130 times
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^^^Sure. For example the word "strawbarry"...........feh.

Last edited by WasPA; 11-27-2007 at 07:27 PM.. Reason: deletion...extra word
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Old 11-27-2007, 06:47 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WasPA View Post
^^^Sure. For example being the word "strawbarry"...........feh.
Perhaps I'm just a bit mentally challenged this evening, but I'm saying "StrawbArry" and "StrawbErry" aloud right now, and I'm not hearing any discernible difference.
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Old 11-27-2007, 07:28 PM
 
414 posts, read 1,779,130 times
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^^^^I thought you were joking...oh, well......
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Old 11-27-2007, 07:49 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WasPA View Post
^^^^I thought you were joking...oh, well......
I'm a little slow tonight. Sorry!
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Old 11-28-2007, 04:20 AM
 
1,005 posts, read 1,889,285 times
Reputation: 656
Quote:
Originally Posted by tsedeski View Post
After 25 years of dealing with the question of where is Edwardsville or where in PA, I usually say near the Poconos (or Scranton now that the Office is popular).

and its Wilkes-Barry as the name is pronounced. Not one of the options.
Agreed, Tsedeski. The pronounciation has become diluted over the years, but the city is afterall, named after 2 men's surnames. There's only one way to correctly pronounce "Wilkes" & "Barre" & that's the way these men pronounced their own names.

I remember when the football player Tony Dorsett, from PA coincidentally, was correcting commentators on the pronounciation of his name, telling them to accent the last syllable. Well, he knows the correct pronounciation of his surname, in the way his family wishes it to be known, even if it differs from others with the same surname/different pronounciation.

In regard to words that are not people's names, I currently live in Boston where many local pronounciations vastly differ from what I read & how I pronounce them (& most of this country, for that matter), but hey, it's regional & who's to argue. From the research I've done, many New England pronounciations are as the original Brit settlers used, as someone referenced above. As long as I know what anyone from any region/country is talking about, grammer/accent/pronounciation (proper or not) doesn't impact my life, either way. I say "E-ther" & you say "I-ther"

Yes, I've had to use that "from the Pocono's" reply, as well. But, many don't know where those mountains are (or hills as they called them when I lived in Seattle), so I've learned to say "from NEPA". Believe it or not, I have even been asked where PA is, when I lived in Atlanta.

Now the real question is how does one pronounce "Tsedeski"?

Have fun... VV

Last edited by Baltic_Celt; 11-28-2007 at 04:34 AM..
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Old 11-28-2007, 07:04 AM
 
414 posts, read 1,779,130 times
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^^ Having better luck getting Bostonians to say Bosston instead of Bahsston than getting Wilkes-Barreans to say Wilkes Barret (per Isaac Barre's name correctly pronouncing the accent aigu over the 'e' ) or the common slur 'Wookspare'?

challenges abound.......
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Old 11-28-2007, 04:38 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by KittensPurr View Post
Now the real question is how does one pronounce "Tsedeski"?
His last name is Sedeski, and I'm guessing T is his first initial. His brother serves on Edwardsville's borough council, hence his interest in moving back to NEPA at some point. It's amazing, really, to see just how many folks who post on this sub-forum are ex-NEPA residents who have moved away and want to move back. Most other sub-forums are dominated by people who are moving to those areas for the first time, whereas ours is dominated by inquiries from folks wondering how much has changed in the 10, 20, 30, or even more years since they've been gone. I have a feeling that if I had left for Pittsburgh, as I was pondering doing for a while to work for Deloitte & Touche, that I'd become terribly homesick for NEPA after a while. If I can just beg for a position with Parente-Randolph, I'll be set for life now.

It's nice to hear from you, KittensPurr! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Gobble, gobble!
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Old 11-28-2007, 09:44 PM
 
1,005 posts, read 1,889,285 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WasPA View Post
^^ Having better luck getting Bostonians to say Bosston instead of Bahsston than getting Wilkes-Barreans to say Wilkes Barret (per Isaac Barre's name correctly pronouncing the accent aigu over the 'e' ) or the common slur 'Wookspare'?

challenges abound.......
Sorry Was, could you please repeat that. I was pahkin my cah neah Hahvid yahd & cahn't heah ya.

Accents & opinions, we've all got them. I just spent a week with a bunch of Manchester friends (UK, not NH) & geesh, if one needs to bushwack one's way through an accent... that'd be the one... (Think the Oasis lads on caffeine.) Once I grasp the cadence of anyone's speech, all is well, but the only thicker accent I've ever heard is one of my sisters-in-law who has a PA Dutch accent. What on earth is going on there? LOL The different slang/phrases/grammar/sentence structure is mind boggling.

Going back in a week to visit Liverpool pals. I need an English to English dictionary 'round those parts. It's wicked hahd, in Boston lingo. Help me...

Have fun... VV
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